Devotion

Au Hasard Balthazar

May 1966 •French

The story of a donkey Balthazar as he is passed from owner to owner, some kind and some cruel but all with motivations beyond his understanding. Balthazar, whose life parallels that of his first keeper, Marie, is truly a beast of burden, suffering the sins of humankind. But despite his powerlessness, he accepts his fate nobly.

The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry

October 2022 •English

This comical love story follows the story of A.J. Fikry, whose life is not at all what he expected it to be. His wife has died, his bookstore is experiencing the worst sales in its history and now his prized possession, a rare edition of Poe poems, has been stolen. He’s given up on people and even the books in his store offer another reminder that the world is changing too rapidly. But when a mysterious package arrives at the store, it gives Fikry the chance to make his life over and see things anew.

GAZE

Invalid date •English

In the vein of Raymond Carver, this abstract monologue captures the hidden truth behind our personas. What happens when you “see” a person for the first time? No walls up, a real face emerges.

Frine cortigiana d'Oriente

December 1953 •Italian

Pilgrim's Progress

September 2008 •English

Follow Christian and his companions on a great journey from the City of Destruction to the gates of Heaven as they face obstacles large and small, man-made and demon-spawned. Beyond the gripping drama, Bunyan’s powerful allegory teaches us all the hazards and hopes of the Christian life, and it features the triumphant glory that awaits all who faithfully follow the King of kings!

The Wandering Ghost

February 1964 •English

A boatload of Pilgrims is attacked by a sea monster and Casper tries to help them.

The Grand Inquisitor

January 2008 •English

A young woman (Dashe) discovers a cache of used books that she believes holds clues to the solution of decades-old crimes. When the authorities dismiss her, she takes matters into her own hands, ringing the doorbell of Hazel Reedy (Hunt), a lonely recluse who may or may not be the widow of America's most notorious serial killer. Their cross-generational confrontation, played out in real time, leads to an unexpected and shocking conclusion.

The Enchanted Forest

October 2017 •English

Director Emily Carmichael uses lush, hand-drawn animation to bring to life “The Enchanted Forest,” where our heroine wields her smartphone to stand down her foes, real and imagined. Inspired by Christoph Niemann’s New Yorker Cover, “Enchanted Forest.”

After Words

August 2015 •English

Jane Taylor, a librarian, has lost her job. Depressed and suicidal, she decides to take a final wonderful trip to Costa Rica before swallowing a bottle of pills. Once there, she meets a younger man, Juan, a vibrant tour guide who takes her on an unexpected journey filled with adventure and romance.

Finding a New Hobby

January 2025 •English

An adult named Matthew Drummond gets so bored and can't think of anything to do, but he ends up finding a new hobby in reading a book.

Sugar Island

March 2025 •Spanish

An unwanted pregnancy triggers the journey into adulthood for Makenya, a Dominican-Haitian teenager who lives in the Batey, a community surrounded by sugarcane fields.

Tambourine, Drum

December 2009 •Russian

A mining town in Russia at the end of the nineties. A miners' strike has paralysed the place, corruption and fraud are flourishing in the transitional period from a socialist economy to a market economy. In this world of lost souls lives Yekaterina Artemovna (Katya). This unconspicuous woman has, in the words of her future lover, a "heart of gold". The only bright spots in her lonely life in a meagre communal apartment are literature and her work in the town library. The only bright ray flashed in the life of the heroine is a visiting sailor. But he turns out to be a gigolo and leaves the poor woman. The tense string inside the heroine bursts, the iron nerves lose, and restrained Yekaterina at this point loses all patience with life and ready for the most desperate and cruel revenge...

Lovebugs

September 2023 •English

From his cozy library inside the walls of a suburban home, an intellectual snail tells of his life’s love, loss and change.

O chytrém šachovi

December 1983 •Czech

Delirium

January 2025 •English

A bucolic fantasy frolic in which an adaptable young woman must navigate a bewildering and whimsical phantasmagoria, populated by anthropomorphic and bombastic creatures. The characters she encounters, she discovers, reject established facts and knowledge in favour of: galvanising, albeit meaningless soundbites (often in the form of riddles and poetry), vigilantism and its blunt implementation of “justice” and cult-like acts of dissent. Ironically, leading these academic rebellions are the establishment figures themselves.

Wezr

Invalid date •English

A mother and her son find themselves in an awkward situation where they live in the same building but they're separated due to different reasons. Mahmood develops a system to solve this issue and the situation starts to heat up. A man loses his cousin in a horrible accident and he lives through hell as he is trying to live normally, while ruining other things on his way.

Don Quixote

March 1933 •French

Inflamed by his readings of chivalric novels, Don Quixote, a knight with a sad face, accompanied by Sancho Panza, a peasant steeped in common sense, decides to set off across the world in search of improbable adventures.

Portion

July 2024 •English

A journey of self-awareness, addressing premature judgments and redemption.

Dada

November 1994 •Dutch

In a world where admiration and status are given to whomever can carry the heaviest books on their head, a man hopes his son will achieve what he himself couldn't.

Yellow Ticket

December 2024 •English

"Yellow Ticket" is a powerful exploration of the unintended consequences of self-sacrifice. To what lengths should educators go to inspire their students? What happens if their methods cross the line?